Philippe Clement has spoken to the media following the loss to Celtic. Here is what he said.

How would you assess the match today?

I think this match is a good promotion for Scottish football with two teams who wanted to win, two teams who attacked, two teams creating chances. Of course I need to look in the first place to my side, I am happy what they showed today. They had more shots than Celtic today, but we didn’t take enough of our moments and Celtic were more efficient on the day. Yeah, those are games in balance you can lose them. Could have been a draw, we could have won the game. The circumstances were not on our side. I am really disappointed that we didn’t get a penalty in the first half also. It is a situation that is very important in the game and if you go 1-1 into the dressing room it is another story. But, despite that, my team reacted. In the second half also, after the world class goal for 2-0, it is a very good goal and you cannot do too many things about that. But we never stopped and even with ten we kept on going and we created enough chances to score the goal, we had other chances also. We went until the end and everyone became nervous. I see a team that is growing, I see a squad that is growing with more and more resilience, more and more mentality, more and more quality also on the ball. In the end, if the circumstances don’t fall on your side you can lose points in these games.

Is the biggest frustration the chances that weren’t taken?

No that is not my biggest frustration because I see Haaland and Mbappe also missing chances like that. That is part of football. My biggest frustration is that if there is a clean hand ball, I don’t understand why it is not a penalty given. That is a clear thing. I am curious about that.

Does it feel like an opportunity lost for you?

It is not lost because lost for me is if you don’t show the quality, don’t show enough things to win points. Then it is lost. This is part of football. The decision about the penalty is not part of football because that needs to be more clear. It is a clear hand ball. That is another thing. I am going to focus on my team and the most important thing is Tuesday to get the three points again and to build and continue building what the team is doing in the last couple of weeks, couple of months. I don’t think two months ago they were ready, with ten players, to show this or even with eleven to show this at Celtic Park. We will continue to work hard together with them.

Did you seek an explanation from the referee about the handball?

No.

Was it not communicated to you that Sima was offside?

First, there is no communication towards me. Second, if that was the communication… I am not a referee but I think the clear signal is then [for] VAR and offside. That is the decision that everybody knows what happened. There was no communication about that in that moment. I don’t believe that. Otherwise the signal of the referee is not correct. There is a mistake, it is clear for everybody. OK, it is what it is. I also make mistakes. But it is an expensive one today.

What were you asking the referee about after the game?

I was asking why I get a yellow card.

What did he say?

Because I reacted too hard. I reacted not even with the fourth official. I reacted with a ball that was clearly ours that was given on the other side. It was one small reaction, no swearing or nothing. But OK. It was a day like that when the circumstances were not on our side. Let’s say it like this.

Do you still think you can win the title?

I’m not busy talking about that. I told you guys that we are busy with the marathon, I’m busy with making the team better, I’m busy with myself. I’m not busy with other teams and how they are performing. So, I see a team, what they did today they could not have done that two months ago, or even four or five weeks ago. We are going to keep on building and make it better and better.

Do you have any complaints about the red card for Leon?

No. I didn’t see the images, but I think it’s a red card. If he was the last man, it was a red card, so nothing to discuss about that. Maybe we need to discuss then why there was no second yellow for a few tackles from players who had yellows on the other side. But, I don’t want to go much into that. I’m focused on my team, I want to make them better. The circumstances were not on our side, that’s clear, and we fought until the last second to get the game over the line. We were almost there, even with 10, so there are things to build on.

Do you think Bernando should have had a second yellow card?

I’m not going to go into details about every action. I think you guys like to go deep into every detail about everything and every word I say, or other coaches and the players. So, it’s interesting to see the evaluation of everybody about those circumstances. That’s finished. I’m disappointed we don’t have three points, or even one point, because for me my team really deserved it today. We are going to work hard to get a lot of points in the next couple of months.